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The oil and gas industry's assault on renewable energy

Renewable energy enjoyed a record year in 2012 when the United States wind industry surpassed 50,000 megawatts of electrical power generation capacity, and solar proved once again to be the country's fastest-growing energy source.

Well, some utilities that own old and often dirty fossil fuel power plants are upset that renewables are making it harder for their older, polluting units to stay in business.

In 2013, fossil fuels received 75 times more subsidies than clean energy did.

Then there are oil and gas industry association leaders, such as American Petroleum Institute president Jack Gerard, who often talk about wanting a “level playing field.” This implies that policies promoting renewable energy are unfair to fossil fuels.

Don’t be fooled. Renewable investments pale in comparison to the amount of money poured into fossil fuel companies since 1918 to fatten their bottom lines and crowd out competition. In 2013, fossil fuels received 75 times more subsidies than clean energy did.

Heavily subsidized fossil fuels may have made sense 100 years ago, when we were racing to build the energy infrastructure of the last century.

But today we're racing to build the clean energy infrastructure of the new century. We need to support a new set of industries, and we're making real progress.

So it is no surprise that we are seeing a well-funded, industry-backed effort to roll back the policies that have been so successful in developing and deploying renewables.

Front groups do dirty work

So far, 29 states have implemented Renewable Portfolio Standards, or RPS, which require increased production of energy from renewable sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and biomass. They’ve been adopted in red states and blue – from California to Texas to Maine – through democratic processes and with popular support.

But a Bloomberg article details how the oil and gas industry, through some self-described free market organizations that they fund, are trying to engineer a legislative massacre of these policies in more than a dozen states.

The groups may sound familiar: American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, which is currently pushing legislation around the country that would mandate the teaching of climate change denial in public school systems.

There is also The Heartland Institute, which ran a billboard campaign last year comparing global warming "admitters" to Osama bin Laden and Charles Manson.

Both have long opposed sensible energy policies. Their funders will sound familiar, too: the oil, gas and coal industries and their owners such as the Koch brothers.

With this new campaign, though, they are not influencing legislation to fill young minds with false propaganda or attacking climate legislation. They're attacking renewable energy.

Why? Apparently, an industry that the naysayers loved to call a loser is now threatening fossil fuel profits.

The clean energy economy is growing fast

In Texas, a state deeply rooted in oil and gas, renewable energy is booming. This is the state where an ALEC-backed bill has been introduced to eliminate the state’s RPS entirely while leaving in a similar portfolio standard for natural gas.

Except, Texas blew past the RPS goal set for 2015, and now 1,300-plus companies employ more than 100,000 in industries directly and indirectly related to renewable energy.

One of the things I've learned over the last 30 years of watching, pushing and fighting various environmental laws is that nothing is ever final. When you lose, there's always tomorrow.

Indeed, if the oil and gas bosses think they are going to waltz into states and roll back all of the positive progress we've been making, they are in for the fight of their lives.

Jim Marston

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Comments

Al Bore

April 26, 2013at 2:42 pm (ET)

Former Climate Blame Believers Are Better Planet Lovers (the rest of you fear mongers can join the neocons).

How close to the point of no return from unstoppable warming will science lead us like goose stepping Greenzis before these lab coats finally declare a crisis is as real as they can say a comet hit is? Catastrophic Climate Change “IS” a Comet Hit of an Emergency! Nothing is worse and let's save the little tiny catastrophic climate crisis for a Harry Potter book shall we?

Not one IPCC warning says a CO2 catastrophic climate crisis is as real as a comet hit or an asteroid hit. Science has NEVER said it and refuses to say it.
Not one IPCC warning isn't swimming in "maybes".
Not one IPCC warning says a crisis is inevitable or eventual or imminent.
Not one IPCC warning says it "WILL" happen.
Not one IPCC warning explains the tropical fossils under both polar caps proving this climate of today has obviously happened before.

*Science only agrees it "might" happen after 28 years of research so 28 years of “maybe” proves it “WON’T” be a crisis.* Deny that.

Science agrees that “climate change is real and is happening and could potentially cause a crisis”. Science didn’t lie, you fear mongering doomers of climate blame belief and your politicians and the lazy copy and paste news editors did the lying saying a crisis actually would happen. Deny that!

Robin

April 26, 2013at 3:23 pm (ET)

I see these turbines all over Germany when I visit there. They are worth their weight in gold. Don't keep depending on the earth to give us what we need. Humans are wearing the earth out and not replacing.

Hi Jim - thanks for the info. I can't comment about the state and federal subsidies, but I thought it may be worth highlighting that several oil companies are investing in renewable energy as part of their portfolio.(full disclosure - I work for Suncor, which is Canada's largest energy company).

We recently described this in a blog using information from the Pembina report.
Http://Osqar.suncor.com/2013/04/why-oil-mixes-with-wind-solar-and-ethanol-too-.html

Do you support this type of effort? What are the US policy levers available to encourage tbis?

Kenya is shifting from hydropower to geothermal energy as its base load. Already over a billion investments have already been introduced in the hub of rapidly growing East Africa. That is why, the 4th annual World Geothermal Energy Summit will be held in Nairobi, Kenya on 12-13 December 2013 to dig deep into the issues of regulatory and private sector support, introduction of investment and equipment and requirements important to investors and developers. Site tour at the KenGen Geothermal Plant already confirmed on 13 December 2013! Call our Secretariat for more info at +65 6818 6344 or email geothermal@arcmediaglobal.com. Visit http://www.arcmediaglobal.com/geothermal

I agree with the argument that there should be a level playing field for all energy. So, to achieve that, all subsidies for the fossil fuel industry must end effective immediately and in turn they should be given to the renewable and alternative energy sector. Wait a century, since that is about the amount of time fossil fuels have been subsidized, THEN have both compete in the marketplace since that is where the winners and losers should be chosen.

Roy

May 2, 2013at 1:04 am (ET)

Uncounted subsidies for oil and gas are use of the military to keep the free flow of oil going. It would be nice if the US became self sufficient and completely OFF foriegn oil.

I would be in favor of a 15 % tax on foreign oil to be used exclusively for alternate energy. If oil is $ 100 per barrel, we spend $ 15.00 on alternatives. If we spend $ 200 per barrel, we spend $ 30.00 on alternatives.

Just 10 % of this money could put FREE solar hot water on 1,000 homes per day. That is 365,000 homes per year, FREE.

For a matter of $ 7.50 per fill up, we could end OPEC's strangle on the US.